One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant indian cress is to look at the USDA zone info for Ottawa.

Planting Calendar for Indian cress

Frost tolerance for indian cress:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

Indian cress are not cold tolerant which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant indian cress in Ottawa is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant indian cress and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your indian cress may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your indian cress indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Ottawa the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ottawa and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Ottawa there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your indian cress in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ottawa

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Ottawa

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Ottawa.